Unfinished DIY blighting many of Britain's homes

Half-completed DIY projects in Britain’s homes are an untapped goldmine of opportunities for the country’s tradesmen it seems, after research revealed that there are unfinished home improvements currently blighting nearly two-thirds of the country’s homes.

A poll of more than 3,200 families carried out by RatedPeople.com, the online trade recommendation service, found that around 14 million British homes have seen people embark on missions such as re-tiling the bathroom or repainting doors, only to abandon them before completion.

The projects have been dubbed Never Ending Renovation Dreams – or Nerds – with many of them becoming bones of contention among householders. Around 16 per cent of the Nerds had been left incomplete for more than three years, although most of them were eventually patched up after six months.

Property guru Phil Spencer, who is an ambassador for RatedPeople.com, said that Nerds are “something that I witness far too frequently”. He explained that many of them stem from people biting off more than they can chew, on jobs that really so require the skills of a professional.

Many of the householders, however, stated that the projects had ground to a halt after they had simply run out of money to carry on with the jobs.